The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) should disarm for the sake of peace and in order to solve the Kurdish issue in Turkey, President Nechirvan Barzani of Iraq's Kurdistan region said.
A peace process was under way in Turkey and awaiting the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to deliver a message. he added.
"A serious process has begun in Turkey, we have had several meetings in Ankara about this issue in the past period," Mr Barzani said in an interview with Rudaw TV from the Munich Security Conference but aired on Tuesday, adding that it would be beneficial for both Kurds and Turks.
The interview was conducted before a delegation of Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, that was in the Kurdish region of Iraq for talks with Kurdish leaders, including Mr Barzani, on peace efforts put forward by the jailed leader of the PKK. The timing of Mr Ocalan's plan remains unclear, although the DEM announced earlier this month that he would make a "historic call" without revealing further details of what this would entail.
"We are waiting for Mr Abdullah Ocalan to deliver a message and I believe that after his message the forces, especially the PKK, should welcome it," Mr Barzani said in the interview, adding that the Kurdish issue in Turkey can only be resolved through "dialogue within Turkey".
"The process is clear – the PKK needs to lay down arms," he said. "Laying down arms does not mean this is 'surrendering.' No, it is not surrendering."
Led by Pervin Buldan and Sirri Sureyya Onder, two senior members of the party, the DEM delegation met in Erbil on Monday with Mr Barzani, a day after talks with the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani. Meetings also took place in Sulaymaniyah with Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani and his brother, Qubad Talabani, the deputy prime minister of the Kurdish regional government (KRG).
On Wednesday, the delegation was received by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who also reaffirmed his support for the "peace process in Turkey and ending the war and violence."
After the meeting with President Barzani, Turkish MP Keskin Bayindir from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) told reporters that jailed Mr Ocalan was working on a "democratic" solution to the conflict between the PKK and Turkey.
The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, with Ankara, the US and the European Union designating the group a terrorist organisation. Mr Ocalan has been serving a life sentence in isolation at his Imrali island prison since 1999.
Peace efforts between Turkey and the PKK collapsed in 2015, with the group mainly operating from the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq. The prospect for peace re-emerged in October when hardline nationalist MHP leader Devlet Bahceli offered an unexpected olive branch to Mr Ocalan, urging him to renounce violence in exchange for a possible early release. The DEM Party has since met with Mr Ocalan on Imrali Island twice.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not made any comments on the developments.
